Officials: More than 100 found in west Phoenix drophouse

by Daniel Gonzalez - May. 25, 2011 11:35 PMThe Arizona Republic

Federal immigration agents on Wednesday discovered 108 illegal-immigration suspects crammed inside a drophouse in west Phoenix, the largest drophouse bust in more than three years and the second-largest since 2006.

Such large numbers have become rare as smugglers change tactics to avoid increased immigration enforcement and suspicion from neighbors.

But one of the telltale details of immigrant smuggling - vehicles entering a garage, closing the door, then quickly exiting - drew the attention and suspicion of neighbors in this case.

Officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided the house in the 9000 block of West Vernon Avenue after receiving tips from neighbors about the cars.

Vincent Picard, spokesman for the Phoenix ICE office, said the tip and the raid may have been timed perfectly: Shortly before agents arrived, neighbors reported seeing vehicles enter the garage, meaning smugglers may have just dropped off more immigrants and hadn't yet had time to relocate them.

Smugglers have stopped holding large numbers of illegal immigrants inside drophouses, most likely to avoid losing large sums of money if the migrants are caught, Picard said.

Based on a "conservative estimate" of $2,000 in smuggling fees for each immigrant, those apprehended on Wednesday were worth $216,000, Picard said.

The 108 immigration suspects found inside the house exceeded the number found by ICE agents inside the previous four drophouses combined.

On May 9, ICE agents discovered 37 suspects inside a drophouse in the 6600 block of West Miami Street. The three drophouses discovered by ICE before that had fewer than 20 illegal immigrants inside, Picard said.

ICE didn't start keeping track of the number of illegal immigrants discovered inside drophouses until 2006. The most ever found since then was 124 on March 28, 2008, inside a Peoria drophouse.

Although drophouse activity has been going down for years, the discovery of such a large drophouse on Wednesday shows that immigrant smuggling remains a problem in Arizona, Picard said.

Smuggling organizations use drophouses to hold illegal immigrants recently smuggled across the border before transporting them to other parts of the country.

Just a few years ago, the Phoenix area was the drophouse capital of the nation. In 2007, ICE officials discovered 194 drophouses in the Valley, leading to the apprehension of 3,549 illegal immigrants. ICE officials also investigated 44 hostage cases involving illegal immigrants that year.

In contrast, ICE officials found 100 drophouses in 2010 and apprehended 1,369 illegal immigrants. So far this year, ICE officials have investigated 26 drophouses, including the one discovered Wednesday, and investigated two hostage cases. The 108 immigrants found inside account for nearly a quarter of the 467 immigrants apprehended by ICE inside drophouses this year.

Border Patrol apprehensions in the Tucson Sector, the nation's busiest, also have been dropping. Agents have logged 80,000 apprehensions from Oct. 1, 2010, through April 30, compared with 148,000 during the same period the previous year, said Colleen Agle, a spokeswoman for the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector.

The drophouse on West Vernon Avenue is in a neighborhood of single-family homes. Several neighbors described the neighborhood as quiet.

Agents knocked on the door and were given permission to enter, Picard said.

Picard said the house had no furniture inside, and ICE agents found the migrants sitting on the floor inside every room of the house.

Public records show the 1,323-square-foot house was built in 1996. It has four bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. Attempts to reach the owner on record with the County Assessor's Office were unsuccessful.

Amanda Arellanos, 21, a college student who lives next door, said a family had been renting the house but they moved out about four months ago. She said she and her husband never suspected the house was being used to warehouse people but said she had noticed odd activity.

Every two or three weeks, Arellanos said, she noticed a black SUV or tan pickup pull into the driveway.

The vehicles would drive into the garage, and the garage door would shut. About 30 minutes later, the vehicles would drive away.

Every couple of weeks, landscapers would come to clean the yard and trim the bushes as if a family were living there, Arellanos said.

"But I never saw anyone or heard even a sneeze from over there," she said.

She also thought it was strange that the four large garbage bins on the side of the house were always full even though no one seemed to be living inside. On Monday, she even thought about calling the police because the garbage smelled so bad.

Arellanos said her husband heard someone banging on the door of the house around 8 a.m. Wednesday. When he went outside, he saw ICE agents raiding the house.

Picard said none of the migrants tried to resist or flee.

The 108 migrants found inside included five teenage juveniles and 14 women. They are from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Picard said.

He said some of the migrants were dehydrated, but none needed medical attention. They were transported to the ICE holding facility in downtown Phoenix to be processed for deportation.